In These Darkened Halls
by addrianna818
Summary: Yugi has never been to a public high school before. As he learns the ins and outs of high school life, he learns that the school is ruled over by Yami, the "Pharaoh". But why can't the two stop running into each other? STORY ABANDONED.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, my first YGO fanfic! There might be a little OOC-ness while I get used to writing as these characters. I decided to make Anzu and Jonouchi a little smarter, because I think they are way to stupid in the manga/anime.**

Yugi sighed nervously as he looked up at the 3-story building. Beside him, his Jii-san was babbling on about new friends, and all the wonderful experiences he was going to have.

For the last 14 years, Yugi had been homeschooled. But his Jii-san wanted him to interact with people his own age, to meet new friends and go to a normal high school. So here he was, standing in front of the brown brick building on the first day of school.

"Everyone's so tall…" he muttered to himself, nervously pulling at a strand of his pointed, tri-coloured hair. "And my hair…Jii-san, why didn't you let me dye it?" he pleaded.

His Jii-san frowned. "Be proud of your hair, Yugi! Every member of the Mutou family has this hair, you wont find anyone with a natural hair colour like ours!"

Yugi sighed again, this time because of him Jii-san's speech. "Here goes nothing…he muttered, heading towards the red double doors, his Jii-san shouting for him to have a good day.

Once through the doors, Yugi stopped. And stared. Sounds, sights and smells blended together in a whirl. Students mingled together in groups, or wandered in and out of rooms. Thankfully, he spotted the brass sign saying 'Office' and rushed inside.

Stepping up to the long counter, he nervously coughed. His head barely cleared the top. "Excuse me? I'm Mutou Yugi, I'm supposed to start today?"

The lady behind the counter smiled. "Oh yes, Yugi, was it? I see you already have our uniform." Yugi glanced down at the white shirt, blue pants and blue jacket, decorated with the school crest. "Here's your schedule. I'll get Anzu _(1)_ to show you around." She spoke into her phone headset for a moment before turning back to him. "Have a seat, she will be a minute."

Yugi sat down in one of the chairs along the wall, and glanced at his schedule. Science, Math, History, English, Gym and Art. All classes you would normally find on a schedule. He stared at the block labeled 'Gym' for a while. He had never been in any sports before, preferring to stay inside and help his Jii-san with the game shop. What would playing sports with others be like? He wondered.

"Um, are you Yugi?" a female voice asked. Yugi looked up to see a very cute girl standing over him. She had short brown hair, and her uniform was spotless and ironed. She smiled. "I'm Anzu! I'll show you around."

Yugi stood up, and saw Anzu glance at his height. Even she was taller than him. She also stared at his hair for a moment, a slightly surprised look on her face, but the look faded after a moment.

Once out in the hallway, Anzu lead him past groups of students and pointed out his classrooms _(2)_, giving facts about both. "That's the library, watch out for the librarian, she's a pain….There's the Drama enthusiasts, never mention any play, movie or TV show around them, they go crazy….That's your English class, you will love Mr. Lamare _(3)_, really funny guy….Oh, steer clear, Emos in the left, just ignore them and they ignore you….Gym, not much to say about that…Oh, hey guys!"

Anzu lead him over to two other students who were leaning on the wall nearby. Yugi gulped, both of them were taller than him by almost a foot!

"Honda, Jonouchi, meet Yugi. He's new here, never been to a public school before."

The slightly shorter one, who had dirty blonde hair, looked down at him. "Hey! I'm Jonouchi." He pointed at the necklace Yugi was wearing. "What's that?" he asked.

Yugi held out the gold pyramid he wore around his neck on a long chain. "This is a Sennen. _(4)_ It's supposed to protect me. I got it from my Jii-san."

"Uh oh guys, incoming!" Honda pointed down the hall, where everyone was clearing a path for a small group of students.

Yugi looked around, and his jaw almost dropped. "Wh-Who is that?!"

_1: I'll be using the Japanese names for this fanfic_

_2: I know in Japan, they have classrooms that the teachers come to, but the classroom-switching system is what I'm used to, so I'll be using that was well_

_3: Only a few people will get this joke, can you guess it, fictionfrek and A. Derne?_

_4: Some translations call the Millennium Items the "Sennen Items", so I decided to call his puzzle that, seeing as it will have no purpose in the Yugi to Yami transformations, and sounds cooler_

**Ooh, cliffhanger! Please review, the more I get, the faster I type and the longer the next chapter will be!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh. My. Flying. Spaghetti. Monster. You guys ROCK! 8 reviews, 4 story alert additions and 2 favorite author additions in only 2 hours! Thank you! I wrote this during science and math so I could upload it today, because you guys were so awesome. Chapters will get longer the more reviews I get (and if I have the time lol).**

**Thanks to windyhurrice for pointing out that "sennen" is really just "millennium" in Japanese, so it should still be called the "Sennen Puzzle." Also, for the couple of you that noticed, I did misspell Jounouchi as Jonouchi. My fault. Anyway, here is the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters.**

Striding down the hall, wearing a smirk on his face, was a boy with lightly tanned skin (1) and…

"He has the same hair as me!" Yugi muttered. "Who is he?"

"That's Yami, the ruler of the school, almost literally." Honda frowned. "His family is rich, and they have donated a large amount of money to every school he's attended. People call him Pharaoh, both because of his wealth and power, and because he's originally from Egypt."

Jounouchi looked from Yami to Yugi and back again. "You two do have the same hair, except for the extra yellow streaks in his. He's always bragged about how it's his natural colour."

"Who are the others?" Yugi asked. Behind Yami, two other people followed with almost identical smirks on their faces. Once carried a silver briefcase, and had dark brown hair. The other was an attractive girl with long blonde hair.

"The one with the case is Kaiba. His family owns a successful technology company. He's almost as rich as Yami." Anzu spoke Yami's name with respect and admiration. "The girl is Mai. She's Yami's girlfriend, sort of. They have a love/hate relationship. When she's in a bad mood, watch out! She can rip a lock off a locker while it's still locked, I've seen her do it."

Yugi stared at Yami with wide eyes. Yami really did look like a Pharaoh, striding down the hallway with his jacket over one shoulder, rings on his fingers, and the sneer on his face. As Yami passed them, he glanced down at Yugi. And stopped so suddenly that Mai almost ran into him.

"You. What's your name?" Yami demanded of Yugi. Even though he was only a few inches taller than him, Yugi gulped.

"My name is Yugi, Mutou Yugi…" he whispered, looking up at Yami. He noticed that Yami was wearing a belt necklace and had the faint outline of an eye on his forehead. He didn't want to look into Yami's eyes, instead looking back down.

"Your hair, is it natural?"

"Y-Yes…"

"Impossible! Only the Atem lineage (2) has this hair!"

"My Jii-san always told me only the Mutou's had this hair…"

"Are you calling Pharaoh a liar?" Kaiba asked, leaning over him threateningly.

"No!" Yugi put up his hands in defense.

"I will be keeping my eye on you…" Yami trailed off thoughtfully, before motioning to Kaiba and Mai, and the three left.

"Phew! That was close!" Jounouchi exhaled heavily.

The bell rung then, a sharp buzz that cut off further conversation as the noise in the hallway rose dramatically. Yugi hurried quickly after Anzu as she headed towards their first class.

The morning passed quickly as teachers handed out textbooks, notebooks and course outlines. Yugi couldn't stop thinking about Yami. Why did they have the same hair? And what was with the faint eye on his forehead? He felt like he had seen it before.

When the bell rang for lunch, Yugi headed to his locker to deposit the stack of papers and books he carried. Thankfully it only took him 3 tries to open it. He dumped his books in with a sigh. He hadn't even finished one day of high school and already he was involved in something big.

"You again!" came a voice, cutting through Yugi's thoughts. He closed his locker door to see Yami opening the one next to his.

Yugi looked up at Yami. Once again, the eye on his forehead caught his attention. As he looked away, their eyes met, and Yami gave a small intake of breath.

"Yugi! Come on man, lunch!" Jounouchi's voice cut through the air, and Yami quickly looked away. Yugi turned and ran towards Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda. As they entered the cafeteria, he could feel Yami's eyes on his back.

_1: Thought his skin in the Anime was too dark, so think lightly tanned, darker than Yugi, but not as dark as Yami in the Anime._

_2: Used Atem as his last name cause it sounds cooler!_

**Alright, I will be adding a new feature to the end of each chapter: Questions! The person who answers the question the best (please put the answer as part of the review) will get a sneak preview of the next chapter! Questions will get harder as the story goes on. **

**This week's question: How many cards are needed to summon Exodia, and when he is summoned, what is his ATK? **

**The next chapter may be a while; this is a really busy week for me. Anyway, please review, and thank you again!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks again everyone for wonderful reviews! And congratulations to TheQuoteBandit for correctly answering that you need the 5 parts of Exodia to summon him, and that he has unlimited ATK, so you basically win the second you summon him. Although other people had the correct answer, she had the most thorough answer. She won a chapter summary of this chapter that was sent to her yesterday.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfics about it. Or would I? –Shifty eyes-**

The second Yugi stepped into the cafeteria, all thoughts of Yami were pushed from his mind as he was met with a whirl of sound and smell. The cafeteria was truly the heart of this school, where friendships were made and broken, gossip was passed on, and students could re-charge in preparation for the rest of the day.

The four of them joined the line, picking up green trays from a holder. Jounouchi and Honda immediately grabbed everything they could and ran off to pay.

Anzu sighed in exasperation. "Those two…anyway Yugi, whatever we want to eat is on these shelves here." She gestured towards the three shelves in front of her. "Drinks, Foods and Dessert, in that order. Prices are under the items. We can also take one piece of fruit free." She moved off to get her food.

"Let's see…" Yugi muttered. He had 2000 yen to buy things with, given to him by his Jii-san. At first he had protested, but now he was glad he had taken the money. Everything looked so good. He grabbed a sandwich and some juice.

"No use spending all the money on…" he began, but stopped as he spotted something sitting on the dessert shelf. A chocolate sundae, the last one left. Its chocolate sauce and rainbow sprinkles seemed to be calling to him from their nest of vanilla ice cream. He reached up to get it…

But another hand touched it first. A lightly tanned hand. Yugi followed the hand up to Yami's face. The boy was licking his lips as he put the sundae on his tray. Yami started to head to pay, but stooped as he spotted Yugi standing there.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want this?" Yami asked in a mocking tone. He smirked down at Yugi, but Yugi noticed he did not quite meet his eyes.

"Y-Yes, please…" Yugi stuttered.

"Really? Then enjoy!" Yami threw the sundae on the ground. Its glass shattered and flew everywhere, the ice cream splattering on the green-flecked tile, and chocolate sauce hitting Yugi's boots. Instant silence fell over the cafeteria.

A teacher rushed forward. "Who caused this?!" He demanded.

"That would be me, Professor, and I do apologize, it slipped out of my hand." Yami stated calmly, reaching into his pocket. He handed the teacher a couple of bills. "I believe that will cover the cost of the glass and ingredients, as well as a little something for the janitor who cleans this up. I promise it won't happen again."

The teacher was silent for a moment, counting the money. Eventually he coughed and pocketed the bills. "I believe you, Mr. Atem, and thank you, I will se that this money reaches the right hands." He bowed and left.

Yami gave Yugi one more sneer before grabbing a slice of cake and leaving.

Yugi could only stare after him. How dare he! And he had gotten away with it too! The teacher hadn't even glanced at Yugi. Angrily, Yugi grabbed a brownie. Slamming the correct amount of money down on the payment counter, he went to sit next to Anzu at a table in the corner.

"Yugi, what's wrong?" she asked, sensing his anger as he almost squished his sandwich flat.

"Yami…He…" Yugi took a deep breath and told them what had happened. By the time he had finished, even Jounouchi had stopped eating and was listening.

Anzu put down her forkful of salad, which she had stopped halfway to her mouth. "Well…of course…" she said quietly. She turned to Yugi. "Yami has been doing things like this for years. Ever since…" she broke off. "I've been in the same school as him since kindergarten. I remember the first time I saw him. He was dropped off in a Mercedes-Benz. His clothes, backpack, even the couple of toys he brought were all new. He went around bragging about how much money he had and how he got everything he wanted." She paused and took a sip of water.

"Despite that, he shared his toys with me and a few other children. A month later, we were invited to his house. When I arrived, I was amazed. The house seemed to stretch to the sky. Inside, countless hallways and doors made it look like a maze. We go to play the latest video games and eat expensive foods. Yami bragged that things were imported from Egypt, America and Brazil."

"Until 7th grade, we remained friends. We would play together at recess, and our group got our own table at lunch. Then, in 7th grade, Yami met Kaiba. Once he learned he was the partial owner of Kaiba Corp, he left his other friends for him. A year later, he got together with Mai. I became friends with Honda and Jounouchi, and we went our separate ways. Ever since the day Yami met Kaiba, he's been bullying people, paying his way through and problems he got into."

Yugi glanced over at Yami's table. Yami looked like he was thinking about something. He turned back to Anzu. "I never would have guessed…" he muttered. "I wonder…." He trailed off as the bell rung and everyone stood up to leave.

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Yugi groaned inwardly as he looked at his schedule. He had Gym next. He pulled out the white t-shirt and blue shorts that was their gym uniform and headed to the change rooms.

Thankfully there were only a couple other people in the change rooms as Yugi quickly changed and put his clothes in the tote box he had been assigned.

As he was tying up his sneakers, Yami entered the change room. Yugi quickly ducked behind a row of tote boxes as he passed. When Yami was gone down the next row, Yugi ran out into the gym. _That was close…_ he thought. He didn't want to have another confrontation with Yami.

Once everyone was in the gym, the teacher started them running laps. Yugi looked around. None of his friends were there. Great, he was stuck in a class with Yami, without his friends.

As if he had heard his thoughts, Yami appeared on his right, running strong with no sign of fatigue. He passed Yugi after a few seconds, running at the head of the group. Jeez, did Yami have to be the best at everything?

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After a while of running, the teacher called them in. "Since it's the first day, we're going to start with something easy. Badminton. You will be put into groups of two, and play doubles against another group. Normal rules, games to 11." The teacher began going through his list, calling out random names as pairs.

Yugi didn't pay much attention to the pairs, until his name was called.

"M Yugi will be with A Yami."

**And now for your question! In Yami's duel with Ryou (evil Bakura), what cards do his friend's spirits impersonate? **

**Next chapter will not be up for a few days; our school has grad ceremonies tomorrow and mark cut-off the day after, so busy times! The person who gets the question right with the best answer will get a chapter summary of the next chapter 1 or 2 days in advance of the chapter being posted. Adios!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the long wait! This past week has been really busy, had Grad on Thursday (was awesome!), and went out with friends for the weekend. Anyway, last weeks question was answered correctly by so many people that if I gave them all chapter summaries, most of the people would know the plot. Sorry for anyone who was really hoping to win. I'll make this chapter's question harder. Onwards!**

Yugi gulped as Yami came up to him. Yami didn't look too pleased to be paired with him. He quickly ran off and grabbed a racquet and birdie. Finding Yami already on one of the courts, he tossed the birdie to him.

"Alright everyone, start warming up, then when I blow the whistle, challenge another pair." The teacher started walking around, helping or watching the groups.

"Ok, lets see how you play." Yami served the birdie. It soared in an arc, clearing the net at the center. Yugi ran up and hit it back, hitting it slightly to the left. He had played badminton with his Jii-san before, but they had been just playing for fun.

Yami returned the hit easily, hitting the birdie to the far left corner of Yugi's court. Yugi ran, and hit the birdie just in the nick of time. It cleared the net by only a few centimeters, and Yami had to run to reach it in time.

Back and forth they hit the birdie, and time and space seemed to stop around the two of them. They didn't realize that everyone had stopped to watch them, even the teacher. For Yugi, only Yami, himself and the court existed. One would smash the birdie as hard as they could, but the other just returned it, sometimes the second before it hit the floor. Backhand, forehand, no shot touched the ground. They seemed to have infinite stamina as they ran back and forth around the everyone watching, the birdie became a yellow blur. Their racquets made whistling noises as they sliced through the air.

"How are you so good at this?" Yami shouted, slamming the birdie to the far right corner.

"Honestly, I don't know…." Yugi paused to flick the birdie to the center of Yami's court. "I've always just played for fun…"

"Nobody has ever even lasted 5 minutes against me before!" Yami flicked the birdie so it barely cleared the net.

Yugi said nothing, simply smashing the birdie far to the back. He felt like a reserve of adrenaline had opened inside him. He could run faster than before, and he could see the birdie clearly, although he knew that it was going incredibly fast.

Again and again, they battled, each refusing to lose to the other. They felt like they had been playing for several hours.

----------------------------------------

When the whistle cut through the air, both jumped. Yami managed to catch the birdie heading towards his head just in time.

"Alright, everyone, go change, except you two." The teacher pointed to Yami and Yugi, who were still standing where they had stopped, panting with exhaustion. When everyone else had gone, he approached the two of them. "You two, that was the best game I have seen in all my years as a teacher, and I've been teaching for 15 years! How did you two mange to do that?" Yugi noticed the question was mostly directed towards him.

"Well...I don't really know…. I felt…. like adrenaline was pumping through me, and I just could see everything… clearer than usual." Yugi stuttered, staring up at the teacher.

Yami gave a quiet snort, but the teacher didn't notice. "All right, you guys can leave too..." the teacher trailed off, muttering to himself about their game.

"I'm impressed, Yugi." Yami muttered. "But nobody that has never had training before can play that good. You lied, didn't you? You must of had several years of lessons."

"No, really, I didn't…" Yugi protested, but Yami just snorted again and entered the change room before him.

_How? How did I do that? _Yugi repeated again and again in his mind, thinking over the game. He changed quickly again and ran out of the change room just as the bell rang. On the way to his locker, all he could think was _Where did I get that strength?_

"Yugi!" he heard Jounouchi cry, and turned to see his three friends running towards him. "We heard about what happened!"

"Really?" Yugi said, giving them a confused look as they rushed up. "But Gym only finished a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, but any news involving Yami travels fast in this school." Anzu held up her cell phone. "I got a text from someone in your class, telling me all about it. You really beat Yami?"

"Not really, neither of us got a point…"

"Anybody who can last more than a few minutes against Yami has won against him. He's never lost a game before, ever. Even in simple games, like Dodgeball, he always is the last one standing. Card games, sports, video games, he wins them all."

Yugi pulled out his notebook before slamming the locker closed. "That's impossible, nobody can win at everything…"

"Yami can."

The four of them headed to Science in silence, each immersed in their own thoughts. All throughout the class, none of them heard a word the teacher said.

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When school let out for the day, Yugi ran to his locker, stuffing the text and notebooks he had gotten that day inside his bag. When he lifted it up, it's weight tipped him over. "Ow…" he muttered.

As he struggled to pick up the heavy bag, he heard laughter coming from nearby. Yami, taking his books out of his own locker, was laughing at the sight of him barely managing to lift the bag. He pulled his own bag out with ease and left, smirking as he met up with Mai and Kaiba.

Yugi finally managed to haul the bag up and get it on his shoulders. He grimaced. Walking the five blocks home would not be fun. Just as he reached the door, however, he saw Anzu waving to him from a car. "Yugi! Want a ride home?"

"Sure!" he called, smiling and climbing into the car. "I live above the game shop, the small one over on..."

"Oh yes, I know that one." Said Anzu's mom, smiling as she started the car. "You're the grandson of the man who runs it?" Yugi nodded. "I always like shopping there, your grandpa is a very nice man."

A couple of minutes later, they arrived in front of the shop. "Thanks for the ride!" Yugi called behind him, waving to Anzu and her mom as they drove off. He headed inside.

"Yugi!" he heard the familiar call of his grandpa from behind the counter. "How was your first day? I saw you get out of that car, is that a new friend of yours?"

"Yes, Jii-san, her name is Anzu, and I also met Jounouchi and Honda, and…" Yugi babbled on, telling his Jii-san all about his day, although he cut out the parts with Yami in them, not telling his Jii-san about the ice cream incident or the game.

"Wonderful Yugi, I'm so glad I decided to send you there!" His Jii-san cried, dancing around the room. Yugi smiled again, this time at his Jii-san's dancing, and headed upstairs. Dumping his bag in the corner, he lay on his bed, looking out the skylight above.

----------------------

He must have fallen asleep, because he was woken with a start at the sound of the game shop door slamming closed. He jumped up, straightening his shirt and outing back on his left sock, which had fallen halfway off. He checked the clock. There was still a little time before dinner, so he logged on to his computer. Clicking on the MSN icon, he smiled as he saw that Ryou and Bakura, twins that he had met at camp one time, were on. The three of them kept in touch and were good friends.

**SennenBoy:** Hey guys!

**RyouWasHere:** Hey

**Bakura13: **Heard youre going to public school now?

**SennenBoy:** Yep, today was the first day

**RyouWasHere: **How was it?

(Ryou and Bakura were also homeschooled.)

**SennenBoy: **Meh, not bad, made some new friends

**Bakura13:** Any girls? -Wink-

**SennenBoy:** Yes, but I don't like her!

**Bakura13: **Course you don't….

**SennenBoy:** I don't!

**RyouWasHere:** He just won't admit it. Lets leave him alone for now

**Bakura13: **Fine. Anything else happen?

**SennenBoy: **Srry, can't talk, Jii-san calling me for dinner! I'll be on later, K? Bye!

**RyouWasHere:** Bye

**Bakura13: **Bye

Yugi logged off. He didn't feel like sharing his story. Ryou and Bakura were almost never picked on, and generally liked by almost everyone.

"Yugi? Can you run the store for a while, I need to go get groceries!" His Jii-san called up the stairs. Yugi headed down, soon falling into the almost second nature tasks of running the game shop.

-----------------------------------------

Dinner that night was silent. Yugi mentally groaned at the amount of homework that awaited him upstairs. Even though it was only the first day, he had a 750-word essay and a bunch of math questions to do.

After dinner, he dragged himself upstairs and turned his computer on. Neither Ryou nor Bakura were on, so the only option was to actually write his essay. _Lets see, 750 words about my life._ He thought for a few minutes, and began to type.

Darkness soon fell in the sky, and Yugi yawned as he looked at the clock. Turning off the computer and shutting his textbook, he changed into his pajamas and was soon asleep.

And that's when the dream began.

**Phew, 5 pages! Probably the longest I've ever made a chapter, which is actually quite sad. This chapter's question: What are the first cards Yugi and Pegasus play on their first turns in their duel? In case that was confusing, another wording: What cards do Yugi and Pegasus play on their first turns, during their duel? You only have to answer once, of course, lol. Anyway, chapter 5 might also take a while; I'm right in the middle of exams. Maybe this weekend, if I'm lucky. Once again, thanks for reading, and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Man, I thought I wouldn't get this chapter out till July! Well, exams are done, and school is over, that's good news! Bad news is, I am missing the front part of the top of my left middle finger. Guess what? It got cut off by someone (no, not me!) by scissors. Typing without that finger is quite awkward. Anyway, congratulations to yugixyamiyaoilover for correctly answering the question, she actually was the only one! She got a summary of this chapter, which was sent to her on Monday.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters, but I really f---ing wish I did.**

Yugi looked around him. He was in a small room, presumably a bedroom, but it was like no bedroom he had seen before. The walls were a tan colour, and looked as if they had been made from stone. The bed in the corner was low, with a thin mattress and sheets. A small table and chair were in the center of the room, also made of stone, but of a different type. On one wall was a painting of some people, but they were painted in a strange style.

Looking down, Yugi saw he was dressed in a toga-type outfit, tied with a simple rope. His feet were in worn sandals. He rushed over to a jug of water set on the table, and peered at his reflection. His face looked the same, except for a couple of ink and dust smudges on it.

There was a knock on the door, and a boy entered, carrying a tray with food and something else on it. He deposited the tray on the table, then left.

Yugi peered at the tray. A loaf of bread, some olives, figs and a small closed jar sat next to a scroll. He unrolled the scroll to find it was blank, as a brush and pot of ink fell out of it. He put them aside for a moment, and picked up the bread. He took a bite, and was surprised to find he could almost taste it. _Food should not have flavor in a dream… _He thought. He ate the rest of the bread slowly, trying to see what it tasted like. He felt like he was trying to remember the flavor, and almost could.

Another knock on the door caused him to drop the remaining chunk of bread. The door opened to reveal the same boy as before. He coughed and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.

"The Pharaoh requests your presence. He is in the secondary hall of the castle." The boy pointed to the scroll and writing materials. "Bring them, you will be tested." He left.

Yugi took the scroll and writing tools and headed up a large flight of stairs. His feet seemed to walk of their own accord, taking him to a door covered in more of the strangely painted figures. He opened it, rushing into a large, decorated hall. Guards stood at this door, as well at a larger door across the hall. He headed up to a platform against the wall facing the door. Kneeling before the throne, he felt his mouth speak for him. "Pharaoh, you called, and I arrived."

The man on the throne spoke, his voice sounding familiar. "Yes, you are the new writing slave? I will test you today. Visitors are coming to trade. You will record what happens as well as what is traded."

"Yes Pharaoh." Yugi stood, going to sit on a small stool behind the Pharaoh's. As he sat, he looked at the Pharaoh's face.

There, sitting on the throne, was Yami.

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Yugi woke with a start. Looking around, he saw that he was still in his room. It was dark outside, the stars above his head twinkling merrily.

"It was all just a dream…" He muttered to himself, but inside, he was scared. The dream had seemed so real, like a memory he had forgotten.

He managed to fall back asleep after a while, but his sleep was uneasy. He didn't dream, but the image of Yami on the throne stayed at the back of his mind. The only difference between the real Yami and the one in the dream had been Yami's face. Instead of the faint eye outline on his forehead, a gold band with the eye engraved into it encircled his head.

When his alarm rang, he jumped up and slapped it off. Yawning and stretching, he washed his face and dressed. As he was putting on the sennen puzzle, he stopped. Turning the decorated face towards him, he looked at the engraving. The eye! In the center of the decorations was an eye, in the exact same style as the one on Yami's forehead both in real life and the dream.

His Jii-san's voice cut through his thoughts. "Yugi! You awake? Breakfast is ready!"

"Yes, Jii-san!" he called back. Dropping the necklace so that it hung how he liked it, he headed downstairs.

---------------------------------------------

The next week went pretty normally for Yugi. Since the gym teacher was off sick, they played dodge ball in every class. Yugi mostly stood in the back, avoiding the balls that Yami threw (most of them just happening to come his way). Yugi managed to come up with a strategy that meant he never ran into Yami at the lockers, and managed to avoid him for most of the week.

Friday morning, Yugi woke up feeling great. It was a sunny day, the weathermen predicting light wind and high temperatures. Yugi got dressed quickly, skipping downstairs and eating breakfast quickly.

"Bye Jii-san! See you later!" he called behind him as he shut the game shop door. He met up with Anzu, Honda and Jounouchi at the corner, and they headed off to school.

"Man, I love Fridays!" Jounouchi yelled. "Weekend, here I come!"

Anzu laughed at his enthusiasm. "Anyone doing anything this weekend?" she asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Why don't we do something together after school?"

"How about the arcade?" Honda suggested. "We could hang out there and then go for a burger after?"

After a quick round of calls on Anzu's phone, the four of them agreed to meet in front of the school when it ended.

-----------------------------------------------

School went by quickly for Yugi. The teachers and students were excited for the weekend, and everything seemed easy. Even Yami seemed happy, and didn't glare at Yugi all day. During gym, the teacher had returned, but since it was such a nice day outside, they were allowed to play soccer and Frisbee in small groups. Yugi pared up with a couple of girls to play Frisbee. Whenever the girls threw the Frisbee over his head and he went to retrieve it, he would glance towards the soccer field, where Yami was taking on at least 3 or 4 other people, and winning.

At the end of the day, Yugi headed out of the school smiling. Although he had a large amount of homework to do, the thought of the arcade cheered him up and made his backpack lighter. He hadn't been to the arcade in forever, and it had recently got a large addition of games.

The four friends headed off to the arcade, Honda and Jounouchi shouting about what games they wanted to play. When they arrived, Yugi's jaw almost dropped. Every wall was packed with games. Anything you wanted to play was here. Groups of students wandered about, from little elementary kids who were barely tall enough to see the screen to the University students, towering over everyone. The beeps, explosions and shouting made it impossible to hear each other from more than a foot away.

After a quick trip to the token machines to exchange their money, the four split up, Honda and Jounouchi to the shooters, Anzu to DDR and Yugi to the strategy games.

------------------------------------------------

After wandering around for a while, Yugi spotted one game that had a small audience around it. Two boys, both in elementary school, were battling it out on a game, surrounded by a group of their schoolmates. The object of the game was to complete a series of tasks to finish a bigger task. The person who finished first got more time for the next task, the one who finished last, less. One boy was easily ahead, the other struggling to finish in time. As Yugi approached, the loser stepped off, looking dejected, while his classmates cheered the winning boy.

Yugi stepped forward. "Mind if I try?" he asked.

The boy looked Yugi up and down. "Sure, you can _try_…" he said jeeringly, as his friends whispered amongst themselves. The boy put in a couple tokens and gestured for Yugi to take the second player controls.

He quickly got the hang of the controls, and was soon tied with the other boy. "This is easier than I thought." He commented as he finished another task first. The boy just ground his teeth and glared at the screen as his time went down.

After a few more levels, Yugi was leading by a large margin. The boy's friends were still whispering in their group, glancing at the both of them. The boy was visibly sweating, nervous about losing. Yugi was in full concentration mode, once again seeing the world as if only they and the game existed. With a press of a button, he finished his task, stealing the remaining time from the other boy. He blinked as the screen prompted him to enter a nickname for the high score table. "I was that good?" He quickly entered his initials, and was surprised that they appeared first on the table.

The other boy tapped Yugi on the shoulder. "Congratulations, I guess. You're really good." They shook hands, and Yugi left.

Glancing at the clock, he was surprised at how much time had passed. "We were playing for that long?" he exclaimed, seeing it was almost time for them to leave. "Man, time does fly…." He wandered over to the entrance, where Honda was already sitting. When Jounouchi and Anzu joined them, they left the arcade and stepped into the cool evening. Although the sun wasn't down yet, it was colder than when they had entered. They ran the block to the burger place, sitting down in a booth near the entrance.

Yugi looked around him. "I've never been in here before…"

"Really?" Anzu was surprised. "This is a pretty popular place to hang out. We used to come here a lot in Junior High. The burgers are delicious."

As he was looking at the menu written on the chalkboard at the front, Yugi spotted a flash of coloured hair. Looking down, he saw, sitting at a table across the restaurant, none other than Yami.

**All right! Sorry for such a long wait! Now that it's summer, I will be able to update more often. This chapter's question is: What cards do Bakura turn over to read Pegasus' future, and what do they each mean? (I don't need the whole story, only the cards and their meanings). Thanks again for reading, and please review!**


	6. Author's NoteInterlude

**Hi everyone! Happy Canada Day to any Canadians like me! All right, so this isn't a chapter. Nope, sorry, there probably wont be a chapter for a little while, because my laptop is going in for repairs/upgrades and has all my notes and the beginning of the next chapter on it. I'm sending this from a friend's computer. So once again, really sorry for no update, but blame my laptops need for new software. Next chapter will probably be up by the 5th or so. **

**Also, to any people who have DeviantArt accounts, please go check out my page, the username is still addrianna818. I have a couple Yu-Gi-Oh drawings up, no Yaoi or anything; I'm focusing mostly on photography right now.**

**Peace!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay, got my laptop back! Sorry for the two week wait, and thanks once again for all your reviews! Man, yamixyugiyaoilover is really on a roll, she got last chapter's question right as well! Unfortunately, because she got it right twice, she didn't get the summary. Sorry, girl, but we have to give everyone a chance, and if you get the summary twice, it's not really fair. You will be able to try and answer this chapter's question though. Onwards with the story!**

_Why does he keep showing up everywhere I go?_ Yugi wondered as he slumped down just a little bit, wishing (not for the first time) that his hair wasn't so colourful.

Jounouchi noticed him slumping down. "What's up, Yugi?"

Yugi glanced back at Yami's booth. He hadn't noticed them yet, thank god. "Yami and his friends are sitting across the restaurant." He muttered, turning back to the other three.

Before anyone could say anything, their waitress had arrived, a cute blonde with freckles and glasses. Her nametag read 'Rebecca'. "Hey you guys!" she said enthusiastically. "The usual, I assume?" she spotted Yugi and turned to him with a smile. "Who's this?"

"This is Mutou Yugi." Jounouchi replied, putting an elbow on top of Yugi's head. Yugi frowned at him and sat up, trying not to notice that his feet were barely touching the floor. "He's new to Domino High."

"Mutou Yugi? I think my Grandpa knows yours! You guys run that little game shop, right? I've been in there a couple times, but I guess I'll have to come more often!" she winked at Yugi, who felt his face redden. "Anyway, what will you have?"

"Um, a regular combo, I guess." Yugi said, trying to get the blush to vanish from his face.

"Coming right up!" Rebecca skipped off to the main counter.

"Looks like Bec has a crush on Yugi here…" Honda said, winking at Yugi, causing him to turn several deeper shades of red.

Yugi coughed. "So, um, you guys know her?" he asked.

"Yeah..." Anzu said, glaring slightly at Rebecca as she served another table. "I met her backstage at a dance show a few years ago. We used to hang out after the rehearsals, and got to be…well, not friends, but good acquaintances. When this place opened two years ago, we found out she was a waitress here, and since we come here so often, she knows what we order by heart."

After a pause, Honda and Jounouchi began arguing over a question in their homework. While the other three were looking through the textbook, Yugi glanced over at Yami's table again. He still hadn't spotted them, but had only just received his burgers. It looked like he was going to be there for a while.

"Yugi, what do you think? I still say it's 2.7!" Honda's voice cut through Yugi's thoughts, and he quickly turned to help them.

When their burgers arrived, they put aside the book and dug in. Yugi took a big bite of his burger. "You guys were right, this is good!" he said, taking another bite.

"Told ya, Yug." Jounouchi was already half finished his first burger, and had another still on his tray.

"How can you eat so much...." Anzu asked, looking at Jounouchi's tray with slight repulsion.

"Hmmm? Mffhgnehal!" Jounouchi replied, his mouth full of fries.

Everyone burst out laughing at his remark, Yugi laughing so hard he almost cried.

When everyone finally calmed down, Yugi saw a shadow fall over him, as a voice said, "You again." He turned to see Yami standing next to him, arms crossed. Kaiba and Mai were still sitting at their table, but were watching Yami with interest.

"What do you want, Yami." Honda said, glaring slightly at him.

"Why are you here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because we wanted food. We've been coming here for years, Yami." Anzu replied.

"I wasn't asking you. I was asking Yugi here."

"Uh…because they were showing me this place?" Yugi stammered.

Yami looked like he was going to say something further, but Rebecca had appeared beside him, looking from the four of them to Yami and back. "Is there a problem here?"

"No, no problem." Yami replied with a charming smile. He left, heading back towards his table, where he and Kaiba instantly began discussing something.

"Was there a problem?" Rebecca asked, looking mainly at Yugi.

"No, everything is fine." Yugi quickly looked away and took a drink of his soda.

"Is he your brother or something? You two looked really similar."

"No, that's Atem Yami. I have no clue why he looks like me."

"Is he talking to Kaiba Seto? I've seen him on TV, doesn't he own Kaiba Corp?"

"Yes, that's Kaiba Seto. They're friends."

"Wow, he must be someone important if he's friends with Kaiba Seto…." Rebecca wandered off to his table, and began talking to Yami. After a few moments, she walked away, smiling.

"I bet they just exchanged numbers…." Anzu muttered, glaring at Rebecca. "Although he's with Mai, he still goes out with other girls a lot. I've seen Mai with other guys as well."

"Why don't they just break up then?" asked Yugi, looking over at Mai. She was busy texting someone on her cell phone, not even looking at Yami.

"I don't really know, to tell you the truth. I guess they…. like…. each other, I've seen them holding hands and kissing in the hallways, but they don't seem to be in love."

Yugi thought about it while he ate the rest of his fries. _Why would they go out then? Is Yami just dating her for his image? That would be horrible. _Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yami look his way again. He pretended not to notice, but Mai looked up and saw Yami looking over at him. She tapped him on the shoulder and said something that made Yami glare at her and retaliate.

_They look unhappy together…_ Yugi mused as he watched them argue.

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That night, he lay awake in bed, thinking about all that had happened that day. He tossed and turned for hours, unable to sink into the embrace of sleep. But when he finally did, the dream began again.

**Sorry the chapter's so short! I promise the next one will be good! I'm also going to post (hopefully today or tomorrow) a YGO humour one-shot. Now for the question: What mask does Jounouchi wear when he goes into the tournament to win the Niwatori card? Thanks again for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Addrianna: -Jumps onto the screen****- I'm back!**

**Readers: There she is! –Starts pelting her with millennium items-**

**Addrianna: Oh s**t…. -Throws a chapter back at them- DON'T KILL ME! –Runs-**

**(PS: Once again, so many people got the question right that nobody got the summary. The reason for my long absence was camp, which was amazing, but boiling, it's like 20 degrees C in the ****shade**** here. Also, I have had some questions asked to me, which will be answered in the end of this chapter.)**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, although I damn wish I did.**

Yugi looked around him. Once again, he sat on the small chair behind the Pharaoh. It seemed as if no time had passed. His hands moved by themselves, opening the inkbottle, unrolling the scroll and getting ready to write. He looked up as the main doors opened. Two guards escorted in several men who carried covered baskets. They approached the throne, bowing as they placed the baskets on the steps to the platform. "Greetings, great Pharaoh. We are officials from the city of Di Noma, in the northeast. We come to trade gold and animals in return for the magnificent cloth and spices you possess."

The guards on either side of them bowed as well. "We have searched their baskets, Pharaoh, and found they do contain the items they say. They are high-ranking officials in their city, both of Egyptian birth."

"Very well, let us begin." The Pharaoh muttered, and the trading started.

Yugi found it was simple for him to record the items as they were brought out. His brain supplied him with the words to write and his hands complied. The writing that came from his brush was in ancient Egyptian, yet he could read it almost as easily as he did Japanese. Whenever he could pause, he looked around the halls, reading the inscriptions on the walls. Most were names and deeds of old pharaohs. Some were legends about the gods, including the creation of the world and explanations about how they affected everyone's daily life. Inscribed on the Pharaohs chair was a magnificent image of the sun god Ra, with smaller images of the other gods around the edges.

When the trading was finished, the men bowed again and took the objects they had attained, leaving the hall escorted by the two original guards.

"Take these to the treasury and animal holds." The Pharaoh pointed to the baskets on the steps, some containing gold jewelry, others chickens and lizards. Slaves grabbed the baskets, hurrying out the side door Yugi had originally come through.

The Pharaoh motioned for Yugi to come before him. "Scribe, lets see what you have recorded and if it is accurate."

Yugi bowed, holding the scroll before him. The Pharaoh took it and read it quickly, his eyebrows rising. "You have done a fine job. Give me your brush." He took it and signed his approval on the bottom before handing it to a slave, who put it in a jar and left. "You may become my new scribe. Look up at me."

Yugi looked up into the Pharaoh's eyes. They were darker than Yami's, a deep crimson, and his hair colour was slightly different, although almost the same style. His skin was a deep brown, like chocolate. The Pharaoh's eyes widened as he looked down at Yugi. "His hair, his skin…" he whispered. He looked away for a moment, tapping one of his ring-covered fingers on the arm of his chair before looking at one of his advisers. "What is this scribe's name? Where does he come from?"

"His name is Yugi." The man muttered. "He comes from a small village near the banks of the Nile. We found him clutching several scrolls and a brush outside his burning house. He has no parents because of the fire, and was discovered to be a local writer and artist. We brought him here to see if he would be a good replacement for your last scribe."

"Indeed. Well, Yugi, you have proven yourself. You will be given quarters and supplies, and will work as my personal scribe. You may be called on at any time of the day." He motioned to a slave. "Show him to the old scribe's quarters and bring him any personal items he brought."

The slave bowed and motioned for Yugi to follow him. They excited through the side door and went back down the stairs to the room Yugi had been in before. "Did you bring any personal items with you?" the slave asked.

Yugi went over to the corner, where several scrolls and a paintbrush were sitting. "These, and that is all."

"Alright, follow me." The slave led him back up the stairs and down a decorated hallway. The slave opened the first door on the right and led him inside. "These will be your quarters. You know the way to the main hall, and the Pharaoh decides if you will be allowed in the dining hall or must eat in your quarters. " The slave gave a small head bow and left, closing the door behind him.

Yugi looked around. His quarters were larger than the ones he had originally woken up in, with a large window on one wall, overlooking a garden. The bed was low, but looked comfortable, with a soft mattress and thin sheets. The walls had several pictures of commoners doing daily activities on them. Beside the window was a list of names, most likely past scribes.

He set down the scrolls and brush on the bed, going to look out the window. He could see slaves watering and weeding the garden, which was mostly flowers, but in the back corner, some bushes surrounded a small gazebo, although it looked like the gazebo had no entrance.

Sitting on the bed, Yugi sighed. "Were am I? And why does this feel so…familiar?" he whispered to himself. He picked up one of the scrolls and opened it. Painted on it was a beautiful landscape of a small village. It looked so familiar and comforting to him. Strangely, his name was signed on the bottom right corner. He looked over every detail of it, studying the houses and the trees in the distance. He supposed it looked like any other ancient Egyptian village, except to him it felt…different.

A knock on the door sounded and Yugi put the scroll down. "Enter…" he called.

The slave from earlier appeared. "The Pharaoh wishes to talk to you. Follow me."

As Yugi stood up and walked towards the door, he felt lightheaded and the room began to spin. He closed his eyes for a second…

----------------------------------------------------------

…. When he opened his eyes, he was staring up at the ceiling of his room. He lay there for a moment, collecting his thoughts. He hadn't really wanted the dream to end. He took a deep breath and glanced at his clock. It was almost noon. He reluctantly dragged himself out of bed, figuring he couldn't fall asleep again. After a quick shower and getting dressed, he wandered downstairs. "Jii-san?" he called out as he entered the shop.

He found a note on the counter. _Yugi, I've gone to get a shipment of supplies. It's in the next town over, so I won't be back till dinner. Could you run the store for a while? A friend of mine is dropping by around 1:30. Thanks!_

Yugi sighed, but unlocked the store door and began sweeping and re-arranging items. "Wonder who this friend of his is?" he muttered aloud.

When 2pm rolled around, Yugi was sitting on the stool behind the counter, boringly reading a magazine. Only a couple of customers had come in, and no sign of his jii-san's friend yet.

The bell above the door shop chimed, and Yugi looked up to see a tall, elderly man standing there, and behind him…

"Hey Yugi!" shouted Rebecca, rushing into the store.

"Hey Rebecca." Yugi said, putting down his magazine. He looked over at the man. "Are you the friend my jii-san was expecting?"

"Indeed. I'm Arthur. Rebecca is my granddaughter, she says you two are acquainted?"

"We've met before. Did you come to buy something, or did you want to talk to my jii-san? He's out for the day."

"I came to drop off something, Solomon told me where to put it, so I'll be right back, if you don't mind?" he gestured to the door that lead from the counter to the rest of the store/house. Yugi opened it for him, and Arthur vanished upstairs.

"So what's up, Yugi?" asked Rebecca, leaning on the counter.

Yugi shrugged, "Nothing much."

They chatted for a little while, Rebecca occasionally slipping in flirty comments or winking at Yugi, but Yugi wasn't really paying attention, still focusing on the dream. He blinked as he remembered, the Pharaoh hadn't been wearing a shirt…. the thought brought a light blush to his face, which made Rebecca giggle, thinking she had caused it. He quickly shook it away as Arthur returned.

"Thanks again Yugi, and say hello to Solomon for me. Ready to go, Rebecca?"

"Yep. See you at the diner, Yugi!" she threw one last wink over her shoulder as she left.

As the door closed, Yugi took a deep breath. _Rebecca is getting annoying… _he thought as he re-arranged a display next to the register she had almost knocked over. He left the store open for another hour, only getting one customer during that time. Just as he was closing up, the phone rang.

"Hello, Domino Game shop!"

"Yugi, It's me," came his jii-san's voice. He sounded stressed. "Turns out the shipment was late and only just got here. It's too late for me to drive home, so I'm staying overnight. Will you be ok by yourself?"

"Yes Jii-san, I'll be fine. Oh, Arthur and Rebecca stopped by. Arthur dropped off whatever he was supposed to. He says hi."

"Oh, that's good! Oops, I have to go, I only have a minute left on this payphone. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye Jii-san." Yugi hung up the phone. _What am I supposed to do now? I've played all the games in this shop, and I don't know any of my new friend's numbers. _

Almost as if it had read his thoughts, the phone rang again.

"Hello, Domino Game shop!"

"Hey, is this Yugi?" asked a voice.

"Yeah, who is this?"

"Hey Yug, its Jounouchi! My parents are letting me invite some friends over for the night, wanna come over?"

"Uh, sure! Can you come pick me up? Do you know where the shop is?"

"Course! We'll be over in about 10 minutes, that ok?"

"Sure, see you then!" Yugi hung up and ran upstairs to find his sleeping bag and toothbrush. "Damn, I haven't used it in forever…" he opened his closet, looking through it. "Hanger, box, shirts, Ow! Thumbtack on the floor! Oh, there it is." He dragged it out, and tossed his toothbrush and a couple shirts into a bag. After turning off all the lights, he headed downstairs to wait for his friends.

**Ok, sorry the chapter is still a little short (only 4 and a half pages in word). Anyway, I have had some questions asked of me, which I shall now answer.**

**Q: What characters are you going to include?**

**A: All the ones I already have, Yugi, Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda, Kaiba, Mai, Yami, Bakura, Ryou, and soon to come: Otogi, Malik, Marik, and maybe Isis and Pegasus.**

**Q: Other than Yami/Yugi, what parings are you going to have?**

**A: Jounouchi/Kaiba, Malik/Marik, Honda/Otogi or Otogi/OC, No clue what pairings for Mai and Anzu yet. Because I put Bakura and Ryou as brothers, no Bakura/Ryou. Sorry, but I've never really liked them, plus they're unconscious for 70% of the show anyway. They won't play too big a part in the story.**

**Q: You said Yami's skin was too dark, what do you mean, he's almost the same colour as Yugi?**

**A: I actually didn't notice this until someone asked, but I meant to put that Atemu's skin was too dark. Yami in this fic is probably the same colour as Isis in the anime. Yami as Atemu in Yugi's dream is the same colour as he is in the anime.**

**Now for the question. In some episodes in the Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh, a mysterious woman that is thought to be Yugi's mom appears. Which episode did she first appear in? (I think this was also her only appearance).**

**Next update should be soon-ish, maybe in a week…. I hope. Thanks again for reading, and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ah, gomensai for taking so long! Congratulations to** **Hikari Kime for answering last chapter's question the best! Please check my profile for my latest poll about ITDH. Also, I might be putting up a sequel to my one-shot "You Belong With Me" or a short humour fic I've been sort of working on. Oh, another question I forgot to answer last chapter was how old is everyone. Yugi and Anzu are starting at 15 (I have special chapters for their birthdays, and I'm not gona use the cannon birthdays for a plot-related reason) and Jou and Honda are starting at 16.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue. K?**

A honk from outside knocked Yugi from his thoughts. He opened the door to see Jounouchi driving a slightly beat-up green convertible. "Hey Yug! Hop in!"

"Where's everyone else?" Yugi asked as he threw in his bag and sat down.

Jounouchi stepped on the gas. "Honda's driving himself. We're just gona pick up Anzu."

Yugi opened his mouth, but closed it. He hadn't realized Anzu would be coming too. He had never had a co-ed sleepover before.

Jounouchi stopped in front of an apartment complex and honked the horn three times. A minute later, Anzu came out. "Hey Jou, hey Yugi!" she called as she tossed her bag into the back before jumping in herself. "Honda taking his motorcycle?"

"Yep." Jounouchi dove away from the building. "Ever since he got his license, he's taking every chance he can get to drive."

"Like you?" Anzu laughed.

"Hey, at least I drive a proper vehicle, not that two-wheeled danger machine."

"Ooh, you better not say that to Honda's face."

"Honda has a motorcycle?" Yugi asked.

"Technically it's his fathers, but he got the use of it as a 16th birthday present." Jonouchi grinned. "He's not allowed to drive it to school, so he drives it whenever he can on the weekends." He hit the brakes. "We're here!"

Yugi looked up at a standard apartment complex, although it wasn't hard to see which apartment belonged to Jounouchi's family. While most of the balconies were neat, maybe with a chair or BBQ on them, one had a string of lights around the railing, a pile of old chairs in the corner, and several pizza boxes and soda cans on a table. Plus the fact that Honda and another girl were standing on the balcony, waving at them, helped.

"Hey sis!" Jounouchi called. "Let us in, will you?"

The girl disappeared for a moment, and they heard the buzz of the door unlocking. Jounouchi rushed in, Anzu and Yugi following him up three flights of stairs and into the only apartment with an open door.

The Katzuya family apartment was small and slightly messy, with a couch and a chair sitting in front of the flat-screen TV. Yugi could see several closed doors leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms, and one that was open, which lead to the kitchen. He closed the front door behind him and dropped his stuff on the living-room table next to Anzu's. Heading out onto the balcony, he could see Honda and Jounouchi were already hard at work on the pizzas. Anzu and the other girl stood at the other end, talking.

"Hey Yugi, you haven't met Shizuka, have you?" Anzu asked him. Yugi shook his head. "Well then, this is Shizuka, Jou's sister."

"Hi, I'm Yugi." Yugi said, shaking Shizuka's hand. He noticed in the back of his mind that even she was taller then he was.

"Hi! Jou's told me a bit about you." Shizuka smiled. _She seems really nice. Almost the opposite of Jounouchi._ Yugi thought, smiling back.

Pretty soon, the 5 of them had completely finished the pizza and sodas, and were sitting around the living room, beginning to get bored.

"Movie?" suggested Anzu, who was lying in front of the TV, flipping through the DVD's. "We haven't watched Lord Of The Rings in a while…"

"Oh god, no." Jounouchi pulled a face. "Remember what happened last time?"

"What happened?" asked Yugi, sitting up from his position on the floor in front of the couch.

"We decided to take a drink every time a character said a catchphrase, or we saw a cliché. We ended up passing out not even halfway through the second movie." Honda shouted from the kitchen, where he had been looking for more soda.

Yugi laughed with everyone else, but inside, he was nervous. _Drinking at co-ed sleepovers? I haven't even had alcohol yet…. What am I getting myself into?_

"I know…who's up for…" Jounouchi began, pausing to rummage behind the TV.

_Oh great, this can't be good…. _Yugi glanced quickly towards the door, inching slightly towards it.

"…Super Smash Bros!" Jounouchi finished, pulling out four Wii remotes.

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. _I thought he was gona pull out something illegal…_ He took one of the remotes. "I'm game." He had no clue how good everyone else was at the game, so he picked Mario, just to start.

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After 4 rounds of Smash Bros, Yugi had not taken a single percentage of damage, but had killed everyone else several times. He had changed characters each new round, but no matter which one he chose, he still managed to win.

"Man, Yug, are you a ninja in disguise or somethin?" Jounouchi said, throwing down his remote after getting killed, yet again, by Yugi.

"No, I don't think so…" Yugi shrugged.

"How are you so good at this?!" Honda shouted.

"Um…I own the game?" Yugi shrugged again.

"So do I, and so does Honda!" Jounouchi frowned. "You're the best player I've ever seen…are you cheating or something?"

"No…its simple, if you just think about it...If you're playing as Mario, all you have to do is…" Yugi began.

"Aw, nevermind." Jounouchi turned off the Wii. "What now?"

Anzu, who had been wandering through the kitchen cupboards, pulled out a couple bottles. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm thirsty. Rum and Coke?"

"I like your thinking!" Honda accepted the glass Anzu poured him.

Yugi stared down into his cup. "Jounouchi, what about your parents? What if they find us drinking?"

Shizuka shrugged. "They're gone, they always go to a party or something on Saturday nights. They won't be home till tomorrow."

Jounouchi raised his glass. " I propose a toast: To Yugi, the newest member of our group!"

"To Yugi!" the others echoed, and took a drink.

Yugi paused a second before raising his glass too and taking a sip. _Hmm, this is better than I thought. It's like really strong coke. I could like this._

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An hour later, Yugi's thoughts weren't so clear. _I'm boooooored…Man; Jounouchi's name is long. Too long. His name is now Jou. _He nodded to himself. "Hey Jooooou!" he called.

"Whoa, Yug, your hair, it's, like, big. Do you, like, own a hair gel company? I could, like, really use some hair gel." Anzu giggled.

"His hair is pretty. It's like a rainbow porcupine!" Shizuka said, staring at it.

"That's a funny word, porcupine. Pork-You-Piiiine." Jou said, his voice slightly strained as he tried to get up from where he was lying, upside-down, on the chair. He made a face as he pulled something out from between the cushions. "Ooh, cards!"

"Let's play poker!" Honda shouted.

"Better idea!" Jou finally flopped to the floor right side up. "Strip poker!"

"Ooh, sure!" Anzu giggled and clapped her hands.

The game began, Shizuka dealing the cards. Yugi looked down at his hand. A ten and four of clubs showed up. "I check."

"Check!" Jounouchi shouted, taking a long drink of rum.

Honda and Anzu knocked on the table, symbolizing they checked too.

Shizuka flipped over the cards. A king of hearts, three of clubs and seven of diamonds appeared.

"I bet…my shoe!" Honda shouted, pulling off his shoe and putting it on the table.

"Call!" Jou glared at Honda as he put his shoe next to Honda's.

Yugi and Anzu pulled their shoes off as well and piled them on the table.

Shizuka flipped over a jack of clubs.

"K, we've already, like, bet, so give us more, like, cards!" Anzu giggled.

Shizuka flipped over the last card, an ace of clubs. Yugi glanced back down at his hand. _I have something, I know I do…. a…. blush, no, a… flush! That's good! I think… _He pulled off his other shoe. "I bet my other shoe!"

Honda threw away his cards. "Aw, I got nothin."

Jounouchi and Anzu took off their other shoes to bet them.

"Alright, show me what you have!" Shizuka giggled.

Jou slammed down his cards. "Pair…of...aces!!" He reached towards the shoes.

Anzu tut-tutted. "I got better. Two pair, aces and kings!"

Yugi threw his cards down. "Fluuuush!" he giggled as he grabbed the shoes. "Yay. Shoes!"

--------------------------------------------------

After 10 rounds of poker, Yugi was winning, by a long shot. He hadn't lost a single piece of his clothing. He won all the hands he played, and soon had a pile of the others clothing beside him.

Jou was down to his pants and underwear, having bet on almost every hand, and only winning one, where Yugi hadn't played because he was in the bathroom. Honda was in his underwear, but also looked like he was going to pass out soon, having drunk the most alcohol out of all of them. Anzu still had her shirt and her undergarments, only the fact that she had been wearing so much jewelry helping her be in second. Shizuka looked like she was going to pass out soon as well, but most likely from tiredness, as it was almost 3 am.

As Honda and Jou started arguing over who would go get more coke, Yugi looked around at everyone. _These guys are good people. We're totally gona be good friends. _He smirked as Jou and Honda began poking each other._ Those two are hilarious. And cute. Wait, did I just think that? _He shook his head and looked from Anzu and Shizuka over to Jou and Honda. _Anzu's cute too, but she's not that cute. I like Jou's hair. It looks like it would be soft. Anzu's hair is probably not soft. _

He glanced over at the clock, but was distracted by his reflection in the TV. _ Wow, I do have big hair! Yami had big hair too. And that shirtless pharaoh guy from my dream. I wish I was taller. Maybe I could make my hair taller! I wanna be tall like Yami._

A loud thump made Yugi look over. Shizuka and Honda had finally passed out. Jou did a little victory dance as he shouted, "I am the king of poking!"

Anzu yawned. "We should, like, sleep, its, like, late. Or early. We're early to sleep!" she giggled and grabbed the nearest pillow. "Like, goodnight!" She lay down on the floor.

"I'm gona sleep now, K?" Jou flopped down on the couch. "Don't touch my rum!" he was soon asleep as well.

_I'm tired. Maybe I should sleep. Pillow, pillow, where's a pillow. Ooh, that chair looks comfy. _Yugi dropped into the chair. "Goodnight!" he whispered, as he too, fell asleep.

--------------------------------

The world span in front of Yugi's eyes as Jou's living room blended with another scene, a scene full of yellows and browns with splashes of bright colours here and there. Yugi blinked rapidly as the scene came into focus. Sitting in front of him was the pharaoh.

**Once again, sorry for the long wait and slightly short chapter (5 and 1/3 pages in word). I'm gona take a break from questions for this chapter, because as you all know, school is starting soon, and I probably won't be able to update for another while. But please review, and thanks for reading!**


	10. A Message From The Author

**Ok, just so you know, this isn't a chapter, guys. I'm sorry to say In These Darkened Halls is being put on hold for a while. Maybe forever. After re-reading the first few chapters, I realize this isn't my best work, and I'm finding it harder to write new chapters. **

**I may re-write it, or I may just abandon it altogether. If you want me to continue or re-write it, either message me or tell me in a review. If I get enough people wanting, I'll re-write it. Sorry to anyone who was really hoping for a new chapter.**

**But this isn't the end of my Yu-Gi-Oh writing! I've been sorta working on another long fic as well as a reply to my one-shot You Belong With Me. As well as telling me if you want IDTH to continue, I have another question for you guys, would you rather read a Sonic/YGO crossover (don't worry, it will have plenty of puzzleshipping, evil plots, and Bakura goodness XD) or a YGO fic based on the videogame Jak X Combat Racing (full of violence, cars, and the yami's that drive them ~wink~)?**

**Again, I would just like to say thank you very much to everyone who read and reviewed In These Darkened Halls!**


	11. This story is OVER

So, as you can probably guess, I've abandoned this story.

Not gona re-write it.

I actually started writing this before I had even finished watching Yu-Gi-Oh, and at the time I had no clue who Marik/Malik was, and didn't get the Atem thing. Now that I've finished the series (a year ago –sweatdrop-) I realize how stupid my story sounds. I'd have to almost completely re-write it.

So if you want to use my idea for your story, go ahead, just mention that I had the original idea.

I hope I'm not severely disappointing anyone, I know a lot of you really wanted me to continue.

Thanks again everyone for reading my story in the first place!

_- Addrianna818_


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